Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday defended a nonbinary naval officer at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday after Republicans called the sailor out for a social media post the person made.
Gilday said he was “particularly proud” of Lt. j.g. Audrey Knutson, who drew backlash for saying the “coolest” part of deployment on the USS Gerald Ford last year was reading a poem during an LGBT spoken-word poetry night.
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“I'll tell you why I'm particularly proud of this sailor," Gilday said. "Her grandfather served during World War II, and he was gay and he was ostracized in the very institution that she not only joined and is proud to be a part of, but she volunteered to deploy on Ford. She’ll likely deploy again next month when Ford goes back to sea."
Knutson's comment occurred during a video on the Navy's social media channels. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said during the hearing that he a number of problems with the post, but he made extra note of Knutson's comment, claiming an officer should “prioritize their sailors, not themselves" and that the post was “about herself and her own achievement.”
Gilday, however, emphasized that it’s the job of a commanding officer to build a war-fighting team.
"The level of trust that a commanding officer develops across that unit has to be grounded on dignity and respect," Gilday said. "And so, if that officer can lawfully join the United States Navy, is willing to serve, and willing to take the same oath that you and I took to put their life on the line, then I’m proud to serve beside them.”
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Republicans on Capitol Hill have recently criticized the military for being too “woke,” and they have claimed it contributed to the military's low recruiting numbers over the past couple of years. But Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston said last month that the Army's priority is still on combat, not on diversity, equity, and inclusion training.
“There is one hour of equal opportunity training in basic training and 92 hours of rifle marksmanship training,” Grinston said. “And if you go to [one station unit training], there is 165 hours of rifle marksmanship training and still only one hour of equal opportunity training.”